The present invention generally relates to an improved seat or chair, and more particularly to a chair having pivotable arms suitable for use in a motor vehicle.
Self-leveling chair arms are considered desirable in some applications for reclining seats. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,033 to Pietsch discloses a theatre or stadium chair having a seat back and a seat cushion and an arm connected to a seat back with a parallelogram linkage, so that in one position as the seat back pivots the arm stays essentially parallel to the seat cushion.
However, such known self-leveling chair arm designs suffer from complexity and relatively high cost. This makes such designs impractical in many areas including, for example, automotive seats. In particular, seats used in the van conversion industry (which heretofore have not been self-leveling) use an industry standard arm. The arm has a longitudinally extending armrest member having a dowel extending at a generally right angle to the armrest member, and a pin extends at a right angle to the dowel such that the pin is typically generally parallel with the armrest member and often is also coplanar with the armrest member. Examples of the industry standard arm typically used in the van conversion industry can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,525, originally assigned to Excel Industries, Inc.; U.S Pat. No. 5,056,868, originally assigned to Global Glass, Inc.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,373, originally assigned to Voyager, Inc.
It would be highly advantageous to provide a chair or seat in which an arm such as those commonly used in the van conversion industry stays at a substantially constant angle with respect to the seat bottom as the seat back pivots when the arm is in a down position.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a chair frame or an assembled chair having a self-leveling chair arm suitable for use in the automotive and van conversion industries, where the arm in a down position stays at generally the same angle with respect to the seat bottom as the seat back pivots. It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a chair having a self-leveling chair arm that is of an elegant and low cost design, and which is easy to assemble. It is yet another related object of the present invention to provide a self-leveling chair arm with reduced vibrational noise and which is highly reliable in operation.
In accordance with these and other objects, there is provided a chair frame or an assembled chair having a seat bottom and a seat back, with a recliner pivotably connecting them together. A longitudinally extending arm is moveable between and up position and a down position. The arm has an armrest member which extends generally parallel with the seat bottom when in the down position. The arm also has a pin extending generally parallel to the armrest member. A first link member is pivotably connected to the seat bottom and to a second link member. The second link member is pivotably connected to the seat back. The arm is pivotable with the seat back, and in the down position the arm is temporarily secured with the second link member so as to move with the second link member. When the arm is in the down position the armrest member can remain generally parallel with respect to the seat bottom as the seat back pivots. The second link member is pivotable with respect to both the first link member and the arm. The pin in the down position may be received in a pin-receiving groove formed in the second link member. In certain preferred embodiments the pin-receiving groove may be formed in the second link member with a portion having a width which is less than the diameter of the pin so as to form at least an interference fit.
From the foregoing disclosure and the following more detailed description of various preferred embodiments it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention provides a significant advance in the technology and art of seats and chairs. Particularly significant in this regard is the potential the invention affords for providing a high quality, feature-rich, low cost assembly, which incorporates industry standard components. Additional features and advantages of various preferred embodiments will be better understood in view of the detailed description provided below.